Bonjour guys, how's it all going? I'm sorry for the long update, I've been swamped at the moment. While I'm not all that proud of this chapter, I have been putting a lot of effort into the next one, which I hope will compensate. It should be done fairly soon, so I'll get that posted as soon as I can.

I hope you enjoy this one! Credit goes out to Bubbly88Tay, thanks for sending it in! Just a heads up, this one takes place during 1x06.

"Where do you go when you have no one to back you up? When you have no one to hold you and tell you it's going to be alright? Because I don't know, and you're the only person who came to mind, and I really need someone right now."


A part of Erin wanted to ignore Jay for days, to give him the silent treatment so ferociously that he'd have to apologise and owe her big time. But as she stood in the venue to her High School reunion, surrounded by fake, rich snobs and an atmosphere that made her want to down all the alcohol in the vicinity, she couldn't blame her partner for saying no.

His declining of her offer was pretty standard. He said he had beers with the guys and he wasn't the best real boyfriend, let alone pretend fiance. Plus the fact that Voight was on their backs every five minutes about keeping their relationship strictly professional, which Erin guessed factored in greatly to why Halstead didn't want to be there.

"Erin Lindsay." She was interrupted from her reverie by a group of glamorized soccer moms, travelling in a pack, making their way over to her.

It was 9.30pm, and Erin had already had enough. Apart from an open bar, there was nothing remotely enjoyable about the evening. The only reason she had stuck around for so long was because of a desperate desire to save face, which seemed less and less important to her as the night progressed.

"You are the last person we thought we'd see here, tonight." Bethany Slater commented, flicking her extensions over her shoulder as her posse nodded in agreement.

God, Erin thought. We really are back in High School. She felt her lips widen as she fought to force a smile, smoothing down the front of her dress as she stood uncomfortably in the presence of her former peers.

"Yeah, well, here I am." Erin managed, her jaw aching from the plastic smile.

"So how are you, anyway? Steph tells us you're cop now?" Erin heard sniggers and told herself to keep her cool. She was earning triple what any of these assholes were, she was respected by her unit and she loved what she did. She didn't need the approval of people who ruined her life thirteen years ago.

"Yeah..."

"You do undercover much? Y'know, pretending to be someone you're not?" Erin's teeth gritted. Keep your cool.

Lindsay exhaled a painful laugh, her tongue running on the inside of her cheek to stop from snarling.

"Well that's really great." Bethany continued, urged on by the childish giggles from behind her. Erin pushed aside the anger that bubbled inside of her. "You hear from your family much?"

That's when the stifled laughter really went going. Erin realised in that moment to the people in front of her, she was always going to be the low-life piece of trash with a drugged up mother and imprisoned father. She wasn't going to change their opinion of her.

She didn't need that crap, not after the day she'd had. The pained smile slid from her lips and she mumbled a quiet 'excuse me' as she filed out of the room. The music quietened as she slipped into a darkened corridor, willing herself not to let any tears fall.

There was only one person who swept his way into her mind. As she looked at the photo on his contact information, she already felt better.

She wasn't all that surprised to reach his voicemail; Molly's could get pretty loud sometimes and he was was probably having a blast. His answer message calmed the sickness in her stomach and she couldn't explain how badly she wished he was next to her in that moment.

"Hey, it's me. I don't wanna interrupt your night, so I'll keep this short..." She began quietly, though her voice quivered in its rasp. "Uhm... Where do you go when you have no one to back you up? When you have no one to hold you and tell you it's going to be alright? Because I don't know, and you're the only person who came to mind, and I really need someone right now." She stopped again, running a hand through her hair as she tried to collect her thoughts. "Can you just... Call me tonight when you get home, and we could maybe meet up for a beer? I could really use one. Alright... Uh, have a good night."

She ended the message feeling like an idiot. Jay was smart for not coming, she just wished she shared his intelligence on this particular outlook. She leaned back against the wall with a sigh, before counting to ten in her head and making her way back into the function room.

She sucked in a breath and looked down at her feet, gaining the strength to find her way to the door and once and for all turn her back on the stuck up bitches from St. Ignatius.

Ten minutes. She told herself, the sniggering of her peers echoing in ever crevice of her mind. Ten minutes and you're out of here.

The music pounded in her ears and as she looked up, the dim lights made things a little hazy. The scene in front of her looked more like an hallucination.

Stood by the entrance, was her partner. Dressed in a sharp black suit, he looked around anxiously with his hands tucked deep inside of his pockets and searched the room with his eyes.

Erin didn't even realise she was nearing him until his eyes found her, then everything slowly came into focus.

"Hey." She mumbled when he was close enough to hear over the music. She was so confused to see him there, everything rational slipped from her brain.

"Hey." He replied a beat later, a light smile dancing across his lips. She watched his brow furrowed and saw as he struggled for words."I should've been here from the start. I'm sorry."

"Don't be. It was a mistake coming here tonight."

Jay opened his mouth to speak but all Erin could hear was a voice that sounded like hell coming from behind her.

"Erin?" It was Steph, coming nearer with eyebrows raised in surprise. "You brought someone?"

Erin looked from Steph back to Jay. "Yeah, this is my..." She was sick of undercover. She was sick of pretending around these people. 'This is my co-worker who I told to come here tonight as my fiance' sounded awfully pathetic to Erin, though.

Before she could fathom a response, Jay stepped in and answered for her.

"Partner." He told Steph with a smile. Erin let out a breath of relief, it wasn't a lie, but it gave just the illusion she needed it to. "I'm Jay." Erin couldn't ignore the twitch in Steph's eyebrow, the subtle flash of confusion on her face. It was washed away within a second, but it eased Lindsay somehow.

"Well, Jay, it's great to meet you." She replied, shaking his hand with a somewhat dreamy smile. Steph was then ushered away and towards some other people with whom she feigned having a long history with, leaving just Jay and Erin.

"We don't have to do this." Erin told her partner, eyes wide and honest.

"Sure we do."

He gave a soft smile and reached out his hand. Blood thumped in her ears as she looked into his eyes. He'd just arrived. He didn't get her voicemail yet. He didn't hear how much she needed him, but he knew it anyway. He came anyway. Erin's eyes fluttered as she took his hand, her heart thudding as his fingers linked with hers and squeezed tight.


"So, how long have you guys been together?"

Erin shot Jay a nervous look. Sure, she'd planned out the details just fine; but they were the details for her engagement. Jay going with the whole double entendre of 'partner' meant the ball was in his court. And Lindsay prayed his charm would get them both through the night.

"Awhile." He replied coyly, a smile tugging the corner of his lips as he looked to his right and into Erin's eyes. "It took a while for me to win her over, though."

Erin bit her cheek. She couldn't remember a time when he'd looked at her so fiercely, as though flames flickered around them and everything was somehow in high definition.

"Well, you two certainly make an adorable couple."

Erin dropped the gaze finally and willed herself not to blush, at both the comment and the way Jay's thumb traced up and down on the back of her hand.


Although it was still fairly torturous, enduring fruitless conversations with people she loathed, Erin couldn't deny how much better her mood had gotten when Halstead appeared. It didn't hurt that half the women she introduced him to seemed to literally swoon as he shook their hand, either. Not that she could blame them, his suit did look pretty great. Not that she'd ever admit that to his face.

It was nearly 11pm, and Erin was pretty sure they'd spoken to everyone. And she had to admit, her partner had handled questions about their relationship extremely well. Vague enough not to make it feel like a complete lie, but intricate enough not to draw questions or suspicion.

They were sat at one of the tables in the corner, dark ambience and a bowl of nuts between them. Lindsay already knew they weren't staying much longer; all she wanted was a beer on his couch and the game on his TV.

"Thank you for coming tonight." She said, giving one of the few genuine smiles of the night.

"I'm gonna make it up to you, you know."

"What?"

He leaned in closer. She could smell his cologne. The music seemed to quieten. "For not having your back. We're partners, I should've said yes to begin with."

"Don't worry about it," She replied, brushing it off but feeling something burn inside of her at the way his eyes stayed on hers.

The corner of his mouth twitched and his eyes crinkled slightly. And somewhere between his gaze and the breath that hitched in her throat, Erin didn't realise that the song had been changed from something upbeat and dancey to slow and soft.

"Come on." Jay stood up fairly abruptly, buttoning the front of his blazer and reaching out a hand to Erin. "Let's dance."

She snorted and looked up at him. "You don't dance."

"I guess tonight's an exception."

Lindsay rolled her eyes and slid her palm onto his. Lifting her body from her chair, she followed him to the centre of the dance floor, where he pressed their bodies together as though it was the most natural thing in the world.

Her arms slipped around Jay's neck and his palms slid to her waist. Their bodies were held tight together, and Erin noted that it should've felt awkward being pressed so tightly to her partner. On the contrary, it was anything but. The heat from his body radiated through hers, his cologne encompassing her in a way that made her move an inch closer, if it were possible.

"I forgot to tell you, you look great." Halstead said after a few beats, looking down with shining eyes.

She looked past him for a second and to the group of single girls in the corner, all undeniably drooling over her partner. Yeah, his suit wasn't half bad. "Thank you. You're... semi-decent, too."

She bit her lip to hold back a smile as he rolled his eyes, all the while their bodies moved soft and slow with each other.

"And I just want you to know..." He carried on, his voice faltering ever so slightly. "You're better than all these people, Erin. You don't have a thing to prove."

She let out a breath that she'd been holding in all night and shot him a look that said it all; how much he meant to her, how light her heart was when her hand was in his, how good it felt to have soft music in her ear with his hands on her waist.

Failing to find words, Erin tucked her face into his neck and pressed herself impossibly close to him. She could feel his lips on her ear, and decided in that moment that if he were to whisper something, she'd melt right in front of him.

They moved with each other until the song ended, and when it did something sunk inside of both detectives. Eventually relinquishing their arms from each other, Lindsay stood and looked into the warm eyes of Jay. And for the first time in a while, Voight's 'no in-house romance' rule slipped entirely from her mind.

Then he kissed her. On the dance floor, in between songs, hard on her lips. He kissed her like he'd been doing it forever, and Erin wished he would be.

The kiss ended sooner than they would've liked, but Jay kept his face close to hers. Her hands were rested on his arms to steady herself and there was a mischievous glint in his eye.

"You wanna get out of here?"

Her jaw twitched as she held onto the smile, having only one answer on her mind. "Oh, definitely."